[Archived] Wimbledon

[Paul]

21 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

No there isn't. It's actually quite tame. There was a lot worse being said in the JW Upper yesterday.

 

If you'd been to the Doncaster game you would know yesterday was a very similar performance. That's twice in three games we've been out-fought and out-thought by a team with half our budget.

 

For the goal yes, for the loss absolutely not. We camped in their half in the 2nd half but we weren't good enough to score. We are very easy to defend against. That's Mowbray's fault. He sets the team up, he signs and picks the players.

 

We controlled the game against Doncaster too. It means nothing if you can't create the chances to put the game away. All they did yesterday was sit back and hit us on the break, just like Donny did. It was only poor control and bad finishing in the 10 minutes after they scored yesterday from them that prevented a repeated of the Donny game. Last season we were also playing against far superior teams so the comparison doesn't stack up. Wimbledon were awful. Our team hasn't changed much in quality from last year.

 

You're with someone 'every step of the way' who wasn't at the game?

 

Hmmm...but you make a point of logging on to agree with someone who wasn't at the game?

 

Yep.

You've made a post with the intention of criticising the widely held opinion that we were awful yesterday, yet offered no real rebuttal besides the fact you agree with someone who wasn't at the game. Very odd, I would have thought you would have some reasons based on what you saw rather than on what someone else didn't see.

If you read my post again you should be able to discern my two key points:

I am in agreement with GAV regarding what We both view as an overreaction to Saturday's result. The post I quoted from GAV didn't make a comment about the game but about supporter reaction. 

Secondly another reading will inform you I felt we played poorly. Consequently there is no need to rebut the view as it's one I agree with. What I don't agree with is the general view which seems to be our season has fallen apart following the Wimbledon game.

I did not log in "to agree with someone who wasn't at the game." I read the board as I usually do, saw a post with which I am in agreement and responded to it. I do not log in here to follow people around waiting for an opportunity to reply to them.

I'm happy to discuss this with you but please respond to what I write rather than what you would like to think I have posted. 

[Paul]

17 hours ago, 47er said:

I haven't read any crowing with delight at the result from fans who wanted us to lose though.

Compared to last weekend's claims about how some would be gnashing their teeth because we had won 3-0.

Neither have I. I fully agree to suggest supporters want Rovers to lose is insulting to those who hold strong views, or better to say are outspoken about, Venkys and the overall situation at Ewood. 

[TBTF]

15 hours ago, Athlete said:

got to agree If TM was potted who'd we go for ? we are now a league one club our attractiveness to big name managers as fallen with relegation

Just looked at TM's Coventry record and TBH it doesn't make good reading as TM got a promotion in him ? I hope so but off what I've seen so far I'm more inclined to say no we'll fall short

People on here , notably Chaddy (!!) were talking up our summer recruitment. To me Mowbray signed a load of bang average utility players or certainly players who could allegedly play a number of positions. For starters he signs Dack for £750k and blows most of his own budget on one player that can't play in a central midfield 2, isn't a winger and isn't an out and out striker. So where does he play and why sign him?  And therein lies my problem. Mowbray is such a conservative manager that he seems obsessed with this stupid no 10 role.

Any team in this division with Graham and Samuel as your front 2 central strikers would cause damage and would score goals. He doesn't want to play 2 up top for some bizarre reason. Get any 2 of Conway/Bennett/Chapman in wide positions serving these 2 and we will score goals and win matches . Presumably that means Evans and Smallwood as his central midfield pairing which is fine . But rather than cover in that system he signs the likes of Dack,Gladwin, Whittingham , Antonsson who simply aren't like for like. This tells me he hasn't a clue what system he wants to play. Thus we end up with no shape and no idea.

Manager is sadly lacking IMO and his own uncertainty and confusion over what he is trying to do is very evident on the pitch. This isn't quite so obvious away from home where he can be a little more cautious I suppose but when we have to unlock teams at home or chase the game it very quickly becomes a total hotchpotch.

Like Darrenrover says above, ffs we are Blackburn Rovers in League one with the biggest budget .So come on Mowbray , grow some nads and start setting up with 2 strikers and go and blow these very average teams off the bloody park. Forget about all this ''no 10'' @#/?.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, TBTF said:

People on here , notably Chaddy (!!) were talking up our summer recruitment. To me Mowbray signed a load of bang average utility players or certainly players who could allegedly play a number of positions. For starters he signs Dack for £750k and blows most of his own budget on one player that can't play in a central midfield 2, isn't a winger and isn't an out and out striker. So where does he play and why sign him?  And therein lies my problem. Mowbray is such a conservative manager that he seems obsessed with this stupid no 10 role.

Any team in this division with Graham and Samuel as your front 2 central strikers would cause damage and would score goals. He doesn't want to play 2 up top for some bizarre reason. Get any 2 of Conway/Bennett/Chapman in wide positions serving these 2 and we will score goals and win matches . Presumably that means Evans and Smallwood as his central midfield pairing which is fine . But rather than cover in that system he signs the likes of Dack,Gladwin, Whittingham , Antonsson who simply aren't like for like. This tells me he hasn't a clue what system he wants to play. Thus we end up with no shape and no idea.

Manager is sadly lacking IMO and his own uncertainty and confusion over what he is trying to do is very evident on the pitch. This isn't quite so obvious away from home where he can be a little more cautious I suppose but when we have to unlock teams at home or chase the game it very quickly becomes a total hotchpotch.

Like Darrenrover says above, ffs we are Blackburn Rovers in League one with the biggest budget .So come on Mowbray , grow some nads and start setting up with 2 strikers and go and blow these very average teams off the bloody park. Forget about all this ''no 10'' @#/?.

Unless my eyes are deceiving me we played with two strikers at Rochdale ( Samuel and Antonnson ) and in the two subsequent games. 

[rigger]

26 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Unless my eyes are deceiving me we played with two strikers at Rochdale ( Samuel and Antonnson ) and in the two subsequent games. 

but unless my eyes deceive me, not the best two. I would start with Graham and one  of the afore mentioned.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

We should be looking at automatic promotion with this side and our resources compared to others in this league.Anything less is abject failure.

Don't lower your standards or expectations,the minute that becomes the norm we are in big,big trouble.

What I witnessed Saturday still shocks me this morning.The lack of effort and skill was a cold slap in the face for me personally...we looked as far from a promotion team as you could dare to imagine.

Not acceptable.

[Athlete]

At the moment people aren't over reacting to Saturday we all know that we were always going to get defeats but it's the manner of which the three defeats have happened 

TM has to sort it out with three points on Saturday anything else just isn't good enough 

I'll stick my neck on the line and say if we're not in the play positions by the 1st week in October then a managerial change has to be considered but let's give him time to sort it.. No excuses it's his team 

C'mom we're Blackburn Rovers we shouldn't be 2nd best to the likes of AFC Wimbledon 

[chaddyrovers]

2 hours ago, rigger said:

but unless my eyes deceive me, not the best two. I would start with Graham and one  of the afore mentioned.

Why would drop Samuel who has been our best striker all season? Antonsson has scored 2 goals whilst Graham hasnt perform

[islander200]

Just now, chaddyrovers said:

Why would drop Samuel who has been our best striker all season? Antonsson has scored 2 goals whilst Graham hasnt perform

Graham has hardly played Chaddy.He has played less than antonnson this season and is only 1 goal behind.In my opinion Antonnson shouldn't be anywhere near the starting 11.Offers nothing well in the matches I have seen with my own eyes,wasn't at Rochdale or Scunthorpe

[RevidgeBlue]

20 hours ago, K-Hod said:

People are talking about an over reaction or calling for Mowbray's head but it just isn't the case. I've not seen a single post saying 'sack Mowbray', 'Mowbray our' or whatever. Could it be that suggesting people had said that was an over reaction??

The buck stops with the manager in this game and if he gets it as badly wrong as he did yesterday, then like at any other football club on the planet, his judgment will be brought into question. I'd be more worried if it wasn't to be honest. 

There certainly are a few factors at play here, but you've got to wonder why the manager isn't selecting players he's spent most of his budget on.

Most frustratingly, it's one steps forward and two steps back, yet again. 

Agree with your second last paragraph. I keep saying TM is keeping far too much faith with many of the players that took us down imo and I think a further partial clearing of the decks might be necessary in January. People know my views on Bennett. Williams, Ward Conway and Graham have hardly been covering themselves in glory either, even though they've dropped down a level. If you dont have the necessary winning mentality and mindset in the first place then simply dropping down a division isnt suddenly going to turn you into a worldbeater I guess. Even Evans who has been ok at times didnt look interested or motivated on Saturday. I would give Tomlinson a chance alongside Smallwood to try and bring a bit more dynamism and urgency  to midfield.

As far as the last paragraph is concerned I tend to agree with Gav that we've taken 12 points from the last 5 games so if,and it's a big if, we can repeat that sort of form over the course of the season we'll be fine.

Only time will tell if the players have the character and testicular fortitude to do that or whether the 4 wins on the bounce were the blip on the radar as opposed to Saturday's result.

[chaddyrovers]

Saturday game, we started 1st 10 mins well but didnt score. Then we didnt keep the ball well enough or play quick enough. 

Thought Chapman coming on give us pace and skill that we lack all game. Played too many long ball for me all game

[Bigdoggsteel]

If we are going to play long ball football when we are behind, we should have signed Akinfinwa, not Antonsson 

[Athlete]

1 minute ago, chaddyrovers said:

Saturday game, we started 1st 10 mins well but didnt score. Then we didnt keep the ball well enough or play quick enough. 

Thought Chapman coming on give us pace and skill that we lack all game. Played too many long ball for me all game

Long ball against AFC Wimbledon.. Was that tongue in cheek.. 

There's one thing we do have and that's a sense of humor 

[RevidgeBlue]

1 hour ago, rigger said:

but unless my eyes deceive me, not the best two. I would start with Graham and one  of the afore mentioned.

Graham's done nothing whatsover to warrant a starting place imo. Looked lazy and completely disinterested at the start of the season then his attitude only perked up a bit when the transfer window shut and he probably realised he was stuck here until January at least. The goal he scored at Rochdale was a tap in after the keeper unexpectedly dropped the ball at his feet so it shouldn't be seen as a sign he's in any sort of form.

Prior to Saturday Antonsson had scored 2 in 2 including a cracking finish at Scunthorpe. I thought he grafted hard in the first half on Saturday with absolutely no service from either midfield or the wide areas. In the second half his game did drop off and he got knocked off the ball too easily. Nevertheless in front of goal I think he has something about him and I wouldnt dispense with him because he's gone one game without scoring.

[JBiz]

My overall summary of Saturday is simple, the high work rate and bits of final third quality of the previous two away games seemed lacking.

We created enough chances to win, Samuel notably missed two really clear cut opportunities. Wimbledon worked hard, had organisation but I feel we'd have scored a few if we'd got one!

The time wasting and poor refereeing is something we better get used to as a team, because I expect more of it home this season.

As for atmosphere - I think it's an excuse for the players, but it'll change if they start getting results at home. It's not complicated, a noisy home crowd only happens if we have something to sing about, and since we've been pretty poor at home for a number of years, it's perfectly reasonable to understand.

 

 

[JHRover]

47 minutes ago, Athlete said:

 

TM has to sort it out with three points on Saturday anything else just isn't good enough 

 

The trouble is the way Shrewsbury have started the season we'll no doubt see plenty of people saying they are happy to go there and come back with a point, or if we get beat there then its ok because they're beating everyone at the moment.

No, no, no.

Lets strip it all back. If we fail to win there on Saturday we will be further off the pace than we are now. It will be another 2-3 points dropped on top of the 3 on Saturday just gone. The only acceptable response to the Wimbledon disaster is a win, 3 points and a statement to the league that we are actually a decent side and are going to launch ourselves into contention.

I really hope Mowbray doesn't go there with a defensive mindset. We should have it in our ranks to beat anyone in this league. If we're going to finish top 2 then we will have to finish above Shrewsbury, and we are going to struggle to do that if we turn up at their place happy for a point.

[Bigdoggsteel]

4 minutes ago, JHRover said:

The trouble is the way Shrewsbury have started the season we'll no doubt see plenty of people saying they are happy to go there and come back with a point, or if we get beat there then its ok because they're beating everyone at the moment.

No, no, no.

Lets strip it all back. If we fail to win there on Saturday we will be further off the pace than we are now. It will be another 2-3 points dropped on top of the 3 on Saturday just gone. The only acceptable response to the Wimbledon disaster is a win, 3 points and a statement to the league that we are actually a decent side and are going to launch ourselves into contention.

I really hope Mowbray doesn't go there with a defensive mindset. We should have it in our ranks to beat anyone in this league. If we're going to finish top 2 then we will have to finish above Shrewsbury, and we are going to struggle to do that if we turn up at their place happy for a point.

I think you are in for disappointment. We will go there aiming to nick a 0-1. Away from home all that matters is the result. We need to start performing at home though to get the crowd on side. We wont get promoted otherwise  

[RevidgeBlue]

Just now, Biz said:

My overall summary of Saturday is simple, the high work rate and bits of final third quality of the previous two away games seemed lacking.

We created enough chances to win, Samuel notably missed two really clear cut opportunities. Wimbledon worked hard, had organisation but I feel we'd have scored a few if we'd got one!

The time wasting and poor refereeing is something we better get used to as a team, because I expect more of it home this season.

As for atmosphere - I think it's an excuse for the players, but it'll change if they start getting results at home. It's not complicated, a noisy home crowd only happens if we have something to sing about, and since we've been pretty poor at home for a number of years, it's perfectly reasonable to understand.

 

 

Against MK Dons Williams scored after 2 mins which completely changed the dynamics of things and Samuel did indeed pass up an acceptable chance in the 1st minute on Saturday which if he had taken it would probably have produced a completely different result. 

You can't rely on a goal in the first five minutes every week though and TM needs to find a way of breaking the opposition down when they're camped in their own area.

As for the atmosphere it's a bit of a catch 22 situation. The bottom line is that it's a lot more difficult for 10k fans to create a bouncing atmosphere dotted around a 30k stadium than in a 10k stadium. The atmosphere would be a lot better with another 5/6k in home areas. The atmosphere is also always better regardless of the size of the crowd when the players produce a good performance.

However I'd far rather have a 30k stadium than a 10k one so I dont think the lack of atmosphere in itself is a valid reason for not attending. If more people go, all things being equal the atmosphere will improve. Similarly it's not a valid excuse for the players not to perform. If they play well consistently more people will start going and the mood inside the ground will improve.

[Skiptonrover]

44 minutes ago, chaddyrovers said:

Saturday game, we started 1st 10 mins well but didnt score. Then we didnt keep the ball well enough or play quick enough. 

Thought Chapman coming on give us pace and skill that we lack all game. Played too many long ball for me all game

We did especially last 10 mins the plan seemed to be for mulgrew to go forwards out of defence & hoof it upfield we lacked any cutting edge & couldn't match the intensity Wimbledon played at not a bad idea if you are going to win the headers & react to the second ball, it was desperation stuff towards the end chasing the game. 

[RevidgeBlue]

Just now, JHRover said:

The trouble is the way Shrewsbury have started the season we'll no doubt see plenty of people saying they are happy to go there and come back with a point, or if we get beat there then its ok because they're beating everyone at the moment.

No, no, no.

Lets strip it all back. If we fail to win there on Saturday we will be further off the pace than we are now. It will be another 2-3 points dropped on top of the 3 on Saturday just gone. The only acceptable response to the Wimbledon disaster is a win, 3 points and a statement to the league that we are actually a decent side and are going to launch ourselves into contention.

I really hope Mowbray doesn't go there with a defensive mindset. We should have it in our ranks to beat anyone in this league. If we're going to finish top 2 then we will have to finish above Shrewsbury, and we are going to struggle to do that if we turn up at their place happy for a point.

The mindset we need to have is that we have to win the next 2 to compensate for Saturday's debacle and get to "par" of 2 poInts per game. Once we've done that we need to start again collecting a minimum of 2 points per game. If at any point we ever get to 2 points or more ahead of an average of two points per game it allows for an occasional slip up. 

It's very simple and there's no magic to it. Accumulating 2 points per game or 1.5 per game in old money when it was 2 points for a win has always been the key to obtaining automatic promotion. If you don't do that or at least get very close you aint going up automatically so there arent many games where you can afford to go out with the intention of merely nicking a point.

[Gav]

44 minutes ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Graham's done nothing whatsover to warrant a starting place imo. Looked lazy and completely disinterested at the start of the season then his attitude only perked up a bit when the transfer window shut and he probably realised he was stuck here until January at least. The goal he scored at Rochdale was a tap in after the keeper unexpectedly dropped the ball at his feet so it shouldn't be seen as a sign he's in any sort of form.

I really don't understand players like Graham, almost run through walls to get a deal, once signed the motivation started to slip away, the appetite increases, and we have a player earning very good money no use whatsoever, when in reality he should be scoring a bagful in this division and becoming the man that fired us back into the Championship.

Personal pride Danny? Just do you job.

 

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

'Easy St' Gav....the curse of the young modern day, paid too much average Joe footballer.

[rigger]

1 hour ago, RevidgeBlue said:

Graham's done nothing whatsover to warrant a starting place imo. Looked lazy and completely disinterested at the start of the season then his attitude only perked up a bit when the transfer window shut and he probably realised he was stuck here until January at least. The goal he scored at Rochdale was a tap in after the keeper unexpectedly dropped the ball at his feet so it shouldn't be seen as a sign he's in any sort of form.

Prior to Saturday Antonsson had scored 2 in 2 including a cracking finish at Scunthorpe. I thought he grafted hard in the first half on Saturday with absolutely no service from either midfield or the wide areas. In the second half his game did drop off and he got knocked off the ball too easily. Nevertheless in front of goal I think he has something about him and I wouldnt dispense with him because he's gone one game without scoring.

I cannot disagree with anything you say. My point is that as a target up front, I personally think that Graham is better than either Antonsson or Samuel. So I would play Graham and one of the others. 

[chaddyrovers]

4 hours ago, islander200 said:

Graham has hardly played Chaddy.He has played less than antonnson this season and is only 1 goal behind.In my opinion Antonnson shouldn't be anywhere near the starting 11.Offers nothing well in the matches I have seen with my own eyes,wasn't at Rochdale or Scunthorpe

Graham has been lazy and doesnt look interested atm. He has done nothing to suggest he deserve a starting place yet. 

Antonnson scored 2 goals in those games. Does look lightweight but there is talent player there tho. 

3 hours ago, JHRover said:

The trouble is the way Shrewsbury have started the season we'll no doubt see plenty of people saying they are happy to go there and come back with a point, or if we get beat there then its ok because they're beating everyone at the moment.

No, no, no.

Lets strip it all back. If we fail to win there on Saturday we will be further off the pace than we are now. It will be another 2-3 points dropped on top of the 3 on Saturday just gone. The only acceptable response to the Wimbledon disaster is a win, 3 points and a statement to the league that we are actually a decent side and are going to launch ourselves into contention.

I really hope Mowbray doesn't go there with a defensive mindset. We should have it in our ranks to beat anyone in this league. If we're going to finish top 2 then we will have to finish above Shrewsbury, and we are going to struggle to do that if we turn up at their place happy for a point.

I would play a counter attacking game there. Keep it solid and dont allow us to concede within the 1st 20 mins. 

I would take boring 1 nil wins every game. 

Ward, Conway and Antonsson I would drop. Play Downing, Chapman and Dack instead. Chapman and Samuel pace on break would cause them plenty of problems..

3 hours ago, Bluebarley said:

We did especially last 10 mins the plan seemed to be for mulgrew to go forwards out of defence & hoof it upfield we lacked any cutting edge & couldn't match the intensity Wimbledon played at not a bad idea if you are going to win the headers & react to the second ball, it was desperation stuff towards the end chasing the game. 

Exactly why I was unhappy with that tactic. When Graham play we seem to go long.ball too many times instead of getting it wide and getting crosses in. 

 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Plus, Graham isn't actually that good in the air...or as a target man